A Marriage Between A Large Elf and A Small Giant
by Howlingwolf666
Summary: Bruce isn't human, he isn't even a regular person from another planet. He is not from Asgard, and he's not from Jotunheim, he's not even from planet Hulk. Because of his blood, he has to leave Earth and do something his family tried to save him and his mother from. He's going to marry an Asgardian and a Jotun. And he has barely over a month to learn how to do it all!
1. Chapter 1

"Bruce is a what what? And he has to marry who because of what?" Tony asked, really not wanting to believe what Thor had just told them, and Fury didn't look too thrilled either. To be honest, he looked down right, well, furious.

"Bruce is a royal Blood Elf, and he has to marry Loki because of an age old contract between Jotunheim and Agar, Bruce's home world and the home of his ancestors. The two have long since been allies, though the Agarians did not assist the Jotuns when they threatened Midgard so long ago; they are allied with all the realms, and do not believe in senseless destruction, though an honest war does set their blood on fire. However, Laufey did want recompense when the Agarians did _nothing at all _to help Jotunheim when my father drove them back and took the source of their power away from them. Unless a marriage took place between his child and the child of King Slade, they would break their alliance, which would hurt Agar and the rest of the realms, as they draw power from all the realms and keep them safe in return. You see, a Blood Elf has to consume blood once every three or four months or their power becomes too much to control and kills them, as well as taking out whatever planet they are on and the ones surrounding it. In order to feed their population, every year, each realm would send just over a hundred people who had lost all interest in living, and the blood was given to the people. This made sure that Agar did not explode since it would cause a chain reaction that would destroy the fabric of the universe itself. When Midgard no longer heeded this tribute, the realms all gave an extra fifty people, but if Jotunheim _also _withdrew from this deal, then the universe would die."

"That's all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Dr. Banner?" Coulson asked them; he owed his life to Bruce, and he was not about to let the man who had almost killed him get away with taking his friend and a vital member of this team (as he was the only person who could keep up with Stark mentally and also act as a mediator between the rest of the team and keep them from killing each other or Coulson from tasering them all, especially Stark and Barton) away from them without a damn good reason and without a fight.

"King Slade was a man who loved his daughter Redina too much to see her used as a bargaining chip, so he sent her to Midgard, supposedly away from all eyes until they could come to a better agreement. The people of Agar agreed with him and they sent her away, though they projected her forwards into time here on Midgard, around the time to your early sixties."

"And you're saying that this 'Redina' is-" Clint started and Thor finished for him.

"Is the woman named Rebecca Edith Jones. From there, the rest is basic history; she married David Banner, he was highly abusive towards her, and they made a child, Bruce." Thor finished, looking at Bruce who did not appear to be surprised at all about what he was hearing.

"But why marry a human at all when her father was trying to rectify the situation so she could marry someone of her status and species?" Steve asked, trying to grasp what was being told.

"We believe that she wanted to bridge the gap between Midgard and Agar to nullify Jotunheim's threat. If they received blood from the humans again, then they need not worry about Jotunheim."

"Well, why is the contract being called in now?" Natasha asked as she and Clint subconsciously moved into position to protect Bruce if need be.

"Because my grandfather is dying isn't he?" Bruce spoke for the first time and Thor only nodded.

"And if my people don't have a ruler, then their energy supply will die with its ruler, causing their world to explode which will take others with it. In order to save the world of my mother's ancestors, I need to assume the throne. In order to assume the throne, I need to be married. To be married, I need to honor the marriage contract or my people will die anyways from starvation. And in order to honor the marriage contract, I need to marry a Jotun of royal blood. And the last one of royal blood is Loki." Bruce summed up and again Thor nodded but also said

"But a stipulation has been added; in order to make sure Loki does not make you favour Jotunheim over the other realms, a son of Asgard must marry into this union; more specifically me. As Loki was technically adopted by my father, he is also a prince of Asgard, so you will ultimately be merging Asgard, Jotunheim, and Agar."

"What about Earth though?" Steve asked.

"Agar wants nothing to do with Midgard as it sees humans as the reason they lost their princess, my mother. My father bashed her brains in on the pavement right in front of me, and they take that as a generalization of all human kind; beastly, savage and abusive. Our people may have been described in the past as blood thirsty, but we do not condone familial abuse of any kind, and they want nothing to do with such a violent race." Bruce replied and they were all shocked; Bruce never talked about his childhood though he often dropped hints that he had been abused, but not that his mother had been murdered by his father right before his eyes, and so violently.

"So basically, Dr. Banner has a gun pointed at his head; take the throne of a world he only has a connection with because of his dead mother with you and Loki so everybody, including an Earth they want nothing to do with, lives, or he doesn't and we all go boom." Fury summarized and Thor sadly nodded his head this time.

"Bruce, why are you so calm about all this?" Tony asked and Bruce shrugged.

"I knew of my heritage since birth; Blood Elflings brains mature faster than most species and so my mother explained it all to me and taught me some basic magic. When she died, her memories were passed onto me, which taught me a great deal more magic than a six year old should know, but there was nothing to be done. When I turned fifteen, which is the semi-mature state for an elf, I received the memory about the contract. When Loki first saw me, he didn't realize that I was Redina's son and therefore his intended 'bride'. Which you should all be very thankful for since, if he knew, he could use the contract to make me help him instead of you, which would have screwed you all big time. Now however, that there is to be a third component to this whole thing, I'm not sure how the power dynamics is supposed to work; in an Elf marriage, there is the torruck, or the alpha, and a baytoz, or beta. Now however, it would appear as though the role of the torruck is to be split down the middle between two adopted brothers from two worlds, who are polar opposites from each other, and I'm stuck in the middle about whether I should listen to my friend, or the one who technically had claim over me in the first place."

"Hey, uh, not to go off topic here, but how are we going to handle The Hulk?" Clint asked and Bruce replied

"There is no danger for my people; The Hulk is part of them. A mothers love often worries for her children, more so if the child is female, submissive, or the only child the body will produce, and I'm two out of three; I'm submissive _and_ I'm an only child. When that happens, the mother's magic creates a guardian that activates when the child is afraid. My mother's guardian form was a great white creature that looked like a wolf on two feet. Our guardians usually take on the forms of animals and they are usually white unless the being is particularly powerful; my guess is that the gamma radiation screwed up the shape and the color of my form and made it so he came out when I was angry as well as scared. My further guess is that when around his own kind, The Hulk will feel less threatened."

"So that's it? You're just going to go through with this whole thing, you're not even going to put up a token of resistance?" Steve asked, looking incredulously at Bruce.

"What choice do I honestly have Steve? Stay here on Earth where people are scared half out of their minds when The Big Guy shows his face? Take the throne but watch as my people go hungry? Let not millions, not billions, not even trillions but perhaps _sextillions _of lives die because I'm petty enough to put myself above them by not marrying a current enemy? No Steve, this is one of those instances in which the needs of the many truly does out weigh the needs of the few. Especially when the many are in the sextillions (A/N: that really is a number, I'm not making it up; I'm going on the basis of the DC universe here, in which there were a hell of a lot more worlds than nine) and the few is only a single person. On my own planet, people won't be as scared of me; they may pity me, but they won't run in terror when they see The Hulk, they'll have the resources and know-how of how to calm him down. Thor can match him in strength and Loki can match me in intelligence _and _in magic. We all knew that I was never going to get the happily ever after with Betty; I'd either kill her, or I'd long outlive her. This situation is not what I wanted and it's hardly ideal, but it is doable and it will give me what I need; someone to match me, someone who can take on The Big Guy when he wants to play and a world that isn't afraid of me every time I stub my toe." Bruce finished and they all could tell that, like any time he had something real to say, he meant every word, down to the last verb, noun and punctuation, that he said.

"What about love?" Clint asked him and Bruce gave him one of his almost trademark heartbreaking, sardonic smiles and said

"This isn't the movies Clint; it's politics." The air was thick as everyone digested what Bruce had said until Coulson tried to lighten it even a tad by turning the tide down another path.

"You said that Loki could match you in magic, does that mean that you're a sorcerer like him?"

"Not quite; he is a great deal more powerful than I am and I have an element in which to ground me. Elves use the four basic elements to ground their powers; Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, along with the particularly powerful ones being called Storm Chasers, meaning they can control every element. I am an Earth element, and my mother was a Storm Chaser who taught me some basic spells before she died. However, because she was unable to receive a full elven ceremony, which would have allowed her powers to return to the planet, her powers along with her memories came to me."

"So, you can perform magic _and _control the weather?" Clint asked and Bruce nodded.

"Two months back, after Doom had just finished attacking the city, you were badly injured Clint; Doom had shot a bolt of lightning at you and your arm was badly burned. I knew that even if we got you to a hospital post haste, you would still suffer from nerve damage, which would make it difficult for you to notch an arrow. So, bending my rules a little bit of only using my magic in life or death situations, I healed your arm enough that it just needed to be treated for the stinging. Furthermore, three weeks ago when Tony and Steve were supposed to hold that stupid PR thing, I made a very heavy thunderstorm come so that it was cancelled and they didn't have to go to it."

"God bless you Bruce." Tony mumbled; he really hadn't have wanted to go to that damn news release thing.

"So, flat out, what will the marriage mean for you?" Natasha asked, suddenly realizing that that hail storm that kept all aircraft grounded six months ago so she didn't need to see her family was Bruce and she was trying not to kiss him.

"My powers will be joined with Thor The Thunderer of Asgard and Loki The Mage of Jotunheim. We will combine out powers and help strengthen the weakness of the others. From there, our worlds will be forever united." Bruce said like he rehearsed it to himself a thousand times and, considering he knew his fate back when he was fifteen, it was probably _over _a thousand.

"So, when is he supposed to get hitched?" Tony asked, feeling as if he was to say the word 'married', he would probably be sick, even if Bruce was marrying Thor as well as Loki.

"I am to escort him to Agar in three days time, where his grandfather will officially recognize him as a prince of Agar and teach him what he needs to know. After one month has passed, the three of us shall be wed."

"He has a month to figure out what he needs to know to rule a whole planet?!" Steve asked, outraged that there was nothing anyone could do for their friend and ally; he had to stand by and watch a great injustice befall one of his best friends who had done so much for their team and gone through so much himself, with a lot of it being Steve's own fault.

"Don't worry about it Steve; I still have a lot of my mom's memories to help me out, seeing as how she was about twenty when she was sent here. Now, I think I better get started packing; I may know quite a bit, but I don't know what kind of literature they have on Agar and until I get used to it, it would help me adjust if I had some familiar reading material." Bruce said with a fake smile before he left the room. Everyone that night had different or similar ways of coping with the news; Clint and Natasha pushed themselves through training like never before, Steve destroyed at least fifteen punching bags before he took a sip of water, only to hurl it at the far wall and make a dent in it, Tony drank extreme amounts of bourbon and ranted to JARVIS about how unfair it all was, Pepper cried for a friend she felt she had barely begun to know, Coulson sat in his room, wondering what he could have done to save Bruce, Nick Fury wondered if they should have let the Chitauri win after all, and great storm clouds gathered over Manhattan, though no one new if they were the result of a guilty God or an upset Elf.

Well, my first official Avengers fic! I hope at least some of you like it! Next chapter will be Loki's reaction to everything. Did he engage the contract to hurt the Avengers? Or maybe there was another, more potent reason? And how does he feel about Thor muscling in again over something that should be his? Reviews are love and flames are hate and there is quite enough of that in the world without people who have nothing better to do than criticize other peoples work spewing it about.


	2. Chapter 2: Loki's Reaction

Chapter 2: Loki's reaction

"I can't believe you and Odin have done this! My life wasn't bad enough so he had to throw _you_ into the mix?" Loki ranted at Thor in their agreed meeting spot.

"Brother, in case you have forgotten, _you _were the one who reinstated the marriage contract." Thor said and was surprised by what Loki replied with

"Yes! Because I wanted to marry _Bruce_, not you! This was going to be the first thing that was truly mine, and you had to steal it from me, like you stole everything else!"

"This new addition to the contract is to make sure you don't abuse Bruce!"

"Oh yes, of course, because of the fact that I've abused my wives in the past haven't I?"

"Your past wives were unable to beat you in battle!"

"And _that_ is why I wanted to marry Bruce, because he was strong in battle and could handle the dangers of childbirth! Do you think I would have recalled the contract if Redina had given birth to something that had inherited its human weakness or its idiocy? I wanted someone who was strong yes, but I also wanted someone with a brain, and since the only ones with brains in Asgard were Odin, mother, and Heimdall, I looked and I found a Blood Elf whom I could identify with!"

"Our father loved you!"

"Yes, but it was always the love of a second born, or that of an outsider! I was just something to unite the worlds of Asgard and Jotunheim! Bruce's father despised him because he was a monster; 'our' father would never allow a frost giant on the throne of Asgard! Bruce's mother loved him with all her heart; 'our' mother at least loved us both equally, if Odin had sent me instead of you to Midgard, she still would have been upset, maybe even more so, since you were Odin's son, and I was her's! The only difference between Bruce and myself, is that his grandfather cared about him and his mother so much, that for years he has been hiding them with his magic so they could not be used as bargaining chips! Even when his mother was killed, Slade still thought it was safer for Bruce on Earth; then when that idiot Ross came around, Slade and the other Blood Elves were too weak to bring him home!"

"There is another difference; Bruce did not let his problems make him bitter."

"You mindless oaf; he put a bullet in his mouth! His 'bitterness' may not look like mine, but he has it none the less! My 'bitterness' is thrust outside, while he has no choice but to conceal his unless he wishes to be caged like a mindless beast when that is obviously not the case! He knew to hurt me and the Chitauri, and save Stark! The only time he turns violent is when he is either attacked or frightened and the humans hunt him like a beast! At least if he was with me, I could let him get angry and he wouldn't have to worry about The Hulk; my magic can contain him."

"And when he wishes to fight, then _I _can spar with him, and he need not worry about hurting me!"

"That's why he punched you right?"

"Possibly for the same reason as he gave you the thrashing you deserved for being such a child!" Thor realized he had gone too far when he saw Loki's eyes flash red.

"Do no act so high and mighty Thor; your recklessness from before you were banished would have doomed Asgard. If you had not always rubbed the fact that you were ten times stronger than I was, then I would not have become so bitter. We may both be married to Bruce, but I will _never _let you touch me in any way. Bruce and I have one more thing in common; we were born to be unwilling uniters of our worlds. _You _are the one he has nothing in common with, and _you_ are the one who will cause him great mental strain from having to decide whom to obey." Loki then vanished, and Thor wished he had more patience or was at least better at choosing his words.

"Bruce will also, hopefully, be a uniter of you and me again Brother." Thor said before he too left for Asgard. Loki meanwhile, was stewing in his room; how _dare _Thor and Odin butt in on something that should have been solely his. _He _was a Jotun of royal blood, _he _was the one who was supposed to be married to the royal Blood Elf, and _he _was the one who was supposed to be co-ruler of Agar with Bruce. Now, of course, Thor just _had _to butt in and take it away from him.

"Loki?" Frigga came in to his room and Loki did his best to calm himself.

"Yes mother?"

"I have the distinct feeling that the meeting with Thor did not go over well."

"Mother, Bruce was supposed to be _my _husband, now Thor has to muscle in and mess up the dynamics of the wedding; you know Bruce will be the first one in Agar's history to have two husbands, let alone the first royal to?"

"It's nice to know you already care about your new husbands feelings, but is that the main reason why you are so angry?"

"Bruce and I have a lot in common, but the first time we met, we were enemies. I was hoping that the marriage would give the two of us some time to talk and maybe..."

"Maybe that the two of you would be able to bond over the fact that neither of you were wanted by your birth fathers and while was physically abused by his, you were emotionally and mentally abused by your adopted one? That, according to your so-called 'fathers', you are both monsters?" Frigga suggested and Loki nodded; Frigga loved Odin dearly, but she knew that he had favoured Thor a lot when the boys were growing up, which was why, on occasion, she favoured Loki over Thor.

"How am I supposed to know Bruce and woo him with Thor around?"

"Loki, you said it before; Thor may know Bruce, but _you _are the one who has things in common with him. And _you _are the one who he knew he was going to marry someday. That means that you just have to figure out how to get Bruce to notice you; as I understand it, the young man is an avid reader and King Slade has an extensive library but he will be unused to Blood Elf literature; you will be able to help him pick out good books to read. You and he both practice magic, but you can teach him spells he has never learned. He is well versed in the ways of Midgard technology? Ask him to demonstrate their technology to you. Also, ask him what kind of books he's interested in, and see if you and he can read to each other. You just have to get his attention son, and show him what you have to offer." Frigga told her son and Loki glanced at himself in the mirror and had to admit, he was more handsome with short to medium length hair; long hair just didn't do him justice.

"Mother?" Frigga then produced a pair of scissors.

"I had a feeling you might want these." Frigga and Loki shared a small smile as he accepted the scissors and went to work on shortening his hair.

A/N: That's chapter 2, sorry about it being so short; I didn't want to do too much and I wanted Loki's feelings to be expressed without going overboard. I also wanted Frigga's input on the whole thing, and I hope I got her right.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Not Wanting to Leave, but Needing To And Making the Best of It

Bruce had just finished packing all of the books Tony and the others had bought for him when an arrow was shot into his wall. Dangling from it was a puppy plushie with a little note attached that said 'We'll miss u'.

"Good shot Clint, though I don't know how Tony will feel about you shooting holes into his walls." Bruce said as he took the arrow off, untied the plushie, and tossed the arrow back to Clint.

"He'll be OK with it; Steve was the one who picked out the plushie so he'll convince Tony that one little hole isn't going to make much of a difference." Clint replied as he came into Bruce's room.

"He does seem to have him whipped in that respect." Bruce said as he carefully set the plushie down and sat down.

"So, uh, would it be safe to say that your magic is what kept Coulson alive long enough for the medics to arrive?" Clint asked, finally asking what had been on his and Natasha's minds.

"Yeah, while Hulk and I were scared over what was happening, I could feel something was wrong."

"Could sense a disturbance in The Force, young Skywalker?" Clint asked with a smile and Bruce just flicked him.

"So, while Thor was busy romping in the cage Loki had tricked him into, I was able to leave Hulk's body and managed to heal just enough of Coulson's wounds so that he would be alive when the medics finally got to him."

"So that was why you looked so devastated when Tony told you he was dead; you thought that your magic hadn't healed enough of him to actually save him."

"Correct; if I couldn't trust my magic to tell a healthy body from a dying body, then my magic would be a dangerous thing to use in the field. Also, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I used my magic to help heal people while I was on the run; what if after I left, those people that I had thought were cured, had suddenly died?"

"_That's _why you were so angry at Fury." Clint said with a smirk; one of the reasons that Bruce Banner is so feared at S.H.I.E.L.D was not only because of The Hulk, but because it is said he is the only man in known history to have actually intimidated Nick Fury.

"Yeah, it was two days after I spoke to him that he revealed to the rest of us that Coulson was alive. I always had the feeling though that Coulson knew that I wasn't human and that it was something other than the medics and their drugs and machines keeping him alive." (A/N: Bruce doesn't know Coulson knows Bruce was the one to save him).

"So uh, I know you said you only use your magic in life or death situations, but seeing as how it doesn't seem to matter much anymore, _would _you show us some magic?" Clint asked and Bruce noticed how he said 'us' instead of 'me'.

"Alright, is that dead house plant still in the main living room?"

"Yeah, I think it is."

"OK then, ask the others to meet us in the living room." Bruce said as he stood up and made his way to their destination. Bruce saw that they had been waiting for him there all along.

"Alright, just a reminder; I'm not some cheap conjurer at a five year old's party, this is real magic that I'm doing, so if I tell you all to be quiet, you zip your howling screamers, got it?" Bruce asked as Pepper brought over the plant that she had liked when they bought it, but had been so busy, she hadn't been able to take care of it, and Tony would have likely have drowned it. The others just nodded, surprised by how serious Bruce sounded. He then looked at the plant, and imagined it as the way it must have looked in life; lush and green. Then, he focused his power into his hands, making it so his hands glowed green. He then touched the plant and everyone watched in amazement as the plant not only came back to life, but also come into full bloom. That was when they realized Bruce hadn't just brought the plant back to life, he had _changed_ just what kind of plant it was; it was now a miniature peach tree.

"Sorry about that part; it sometimes happens and I can't figure out why." Bruce said as he took a sip of water and gave the rest of the bottle to the plant.

"Bruce..." Pepper starts and Bruce just raises his hand.

"Look, I told all of you before; there is nothing to be done, I'm going to marry Thor and Loki and I'll be leaving for Agar. Though I am going to try and come back here whenever I can; those two will be the only faces I know there, and Thor and I never became better than shield-brothers so we don't really know each other all that well. Now, I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, so why don't we make the most of what little time we have left?" Bruce asked and each wished they could punch something but there was no use so they thought of something to do. Pepper was the one who said they get lost in New York city (the city so nice they named it twice) and tomorrow spend the day at coney island, a place that few of them had actually been to and see a movie afterwards. They all agreed and went to go get lost. Pepper and Natasha both found a clothing store that sold very nice clothes for a much more reasonable price than most. And right next to it was a Gothic punk store where they outfitted both Bruce and Steve with leather pants (no one knew how Steve, or Tony for that matter, was able to stay conscious with so much blood going to their opposite heads). Clint in the meantime found a sports outlet that had many different kinds of bows, guns, and knives. He, Phil and Natasha both picked up some more arrows, knives and such, as well as Clint getting a beginner archers bow for Bruce; no way he or Natasha were going to let Loki near Bruce without some kind of defence. Steve found a pawn shop that sold many things from his era, including a charming old radio that actually still played records pretty well. Tony thought that the price was a little extravagant for something that old that they weren't even sure would play, just the owners word, but Bruce smacked him and said

"Sometimes, you get things for sentimental reasons, rather than logical reasons." Steve looked at Bruce with so much understanding, it was almost heartbreaking. From there, they found a pizza parlour that was said to create the best pizza in New York; they all rather had to agree, especially when they were able to make a pizza that had Bruce's eyes watering from how hot it was (they found it a little sad that only now were they finding out that Bruce liked his pizza nice and spicy). Then, they found a pretty cool arcade that had all kinds of games; Pepper creamed Tony at air hockey, Phil schooled Natasha in the virtual snipers game, Clint was nice enough to teach Steve about the virtual driving games before blowing him away in it, and Bruce shocked them all when he was able to beat all comers at the Dance Revolution game. When the day was over, they went back to the tower, Bruce made up a breaded chicken that had them practically moan with delight. Then, Clint stole Bruce for an hour and a half so that he could help him learn archery; turns out Bruce had a pretty keen eye.

"I learned to hustle pool from time to time; it's also one of the reasons why I'm so fast!" Bruce and Clint both broke out in hysterics at that, and Natasha came to teach him knife throwing. Something that he wasn't so good at, but only two knives handles hit the wall; the rest landed in the wall _around _the target. Bruce went to sleep that night with a lighter heart than he had in quite a long time. The next day, they went to coney island, with Clint telling them that he had grown up in a much better one, though they all found it funny when they realized Tony had coulrophobia, better known as a fear of clowns. Clint and Natasha won everybody prizes, including one for each other, at games like dart throwing, a sharpshooter game, and the ring toss. When Bruce won at the water gun game, he thought that Natasha, Clint and Coulson had let him win, but they only said that they had misjudged how crappy the guns were so that the water came out at an angle instead of shooting straight. Bruce didn't believe them, but he let it pass. On the roller coasters, it was discovered that Pepper didn't quite have the stomach for that, so Phil waited with her as the others went on one more coaster before going on the Ferris wheel, where Tony learned Steve had a _slight _fear of heights, but it only happened when their car reached the top and didn't move for five minutes and Steve thought they were trapped up there. The final ride they went on was the spinning tea cups, where they sat Tony, Steve and Pepper in one cup, and Clint, Natasha, Phil and Bruce in another. When they left, they found a theatre that was still playing Cabin In The Woods, a movie they had all wanted to see, but hadn't had the time. When it was over, they went home, and none of them felt very tired, so they decided on something educational and mind stimulating; poker.

"Strip poker would be more fun." Tony said as he and Clint set up the table while Pepper and Natasha found a couple decks of cards to play with and the rest got some drinks and snacks.

"Tony, you would have your ass whipped by everybody here." Pepper said as she and Natasha returned.

"Yeah, but I'd be able to put on a sexy strip show for my boyfriend." Tony said with a wink in Steve's direction, who again blushed.

"OK, we'll start with Texas Hold 'em then go from there." Phil said as he set the beers down (soda's for Steve and Bruce, who admitted he wasn't a fan of the taste of beer, at least American, and Tony didn't have any German beer). They played for a long time, and found that though mostly everyone was decent, Bruce and Natasha had the best poker faces, though for different reasons; Natasha never smiled or frowned when she got a good hand or a bad hand, meanwhile, Bruce gave his little half smile all the time, whether he had a good hand or a bad hand. The smile didn't increase when he got a good hand, and didn't decrease when he got a bad hand; even Natasha had difficulty finding any difference so it was cut down between her and Bruce at the end.

"I take it back Tony; _we'd _all be buck naked by now, while Bruce and Natasha would at least still be wearing their pants and underwear." Pepper said as she lost her last hundred to Bruce whose smile became apologetic as he raked in his winnings.

"well, you'll all be getting at least half your money back tomorrow; the rest I'm going to donate to charity as I won't have much use for it on Agar." Finally, Bruce's smile shrank, but Clint, who was determined that there would be no sad faces on Bruce's last night on Earth, said

"You know Bruce, I think it's a good thing our parents didn't name either of us Boris; can you imagine how many jokes there would be?"

"Why?" Steve asked and everyone looked at him in shock until they remembered the The Rocky & Bullwinkle show didn't some on the air until the sixties.

"Tomorrow, after I'm gone, you better show him the show." Bruce said before he got up, stretched.

"Uh, why don't you watch it tonight? Pepper suggested and the others all agreed. Bruce nodded, understanding what they were doing. They cleared away the remnants of the game and sat down in front of the TV and listened as the theme music of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends came on.

"You know, I kind of always preferred Bullwinkle over Rocky; Rocky was kind of stuck up some of the time, but Bullwinkle was dumb in a lovable way." Bruce said and many of them nodded, except for Pepper, who admitted she liked Rocky _just a bit more_.

A/N: Chapter 3, again, kinda short but I'd like to think it's got a lot of heart in it, or it's at least kind of cute. So, next chapter, Bruce leaves Midgard, goes to Agar, meets up again with Loki, and meets his grandfather.


	4. Leaving Friends, Finding Family

Chapter 4: Leaving Friends, Finding Family

It was with a heavy heart the next day that everyone woke up, for they knew today was the day Bruce would be leaving Earth and going to Agar. Pepper and Bruce worked on breakfast for everyone, and they all tried to ignore the elephant in the room. After breakfast, he grabbed his bags and they went to the bridge where Thor and Loki had left for Asgard after defeating the Chitauri. All the couples were together; Steve stood with Tony, who seemed to be doing his best not to look at Bruce for some bizarre reason, Pepper and Happy stood together with Happy keeping a strong arm around her (Happy hadn't gone with the others yesterday or the day before because he himself didn't know Dr. Banner that well; he regretted that now, since Pepper always said he was a fun guy to be around), and the quartet of Clint, Natasha, Phil and Darcy stood close to Bruce, offering whatever support they could.

"So, anyone have any idea when Thor will be here?" Darcy asked (she was sad that she hadn't been there for Bruce's last two days, but she thought it would be best if he spent his last days on Earth with the team that had helped him see himself as something other than a monster. That, and Jane had been a bit of a bitch and would not give her the time off; Natasha and Phil had arranged for her to be here this morning).

"It shouldn't be long now; if my mother's memories are correct, the sun for Agar will rise in about 45 minutes. And to arrive ten minutes before that time suggests eagerness, whiles arriving five minutes after that suggests laziness, and neither are qualities of a suitable noble." Bruce said, looking up towards the sky; for some reason, he could not quite get the image of what Agar's sky would look like; apparently his mother never thought of it as a valuable memory. All he could think of was that it wasn't this shade of blue at the very least, or maybe it wasn't even blue at all.

"Or that of a prince, huh?" Clint asked and he noticed Bruce's shoulders tense for a moment before relaxing and nodding.

"Things must be different on Agar than they are on Asgard; Princes are never expected to be up with the rising sun." Thor said as he arrived, though for once, Darcy was not happy to see him.

"What about your father?"

"Oh, he is always up before the sun."

"As a good king should be; he is royal just like the Sun, and should offer his own humble respect to the one who provides for all." None of the others fully understood what Bruce meant, figuring it must be another elf thing, particularly a royal elf thing.

"I suppose. Bruce, are you ready to leave?" Thor asked and Bruce nodded, though he turned to say goodbye, one last time.

"Goodbye, Dr. Banner." Phil said and the two men shook hands.

"See you around, Jade Jaws." Clint said before he pulled him close for a hug.

"I'm gonna miss ya Doc, now who am I going to go to when Jane is being a royal brat?" Darcy said as she too hugged Bruce.

"Goodbye Bruce." Natasha said, and she shook his hand before kissing him on the cheek, a sign that many knew meant she cared for him almost like the brother she never had.

"Good luck, Dr. Banner." Pepper said as she hugged him; some would think it overly formal, but she was simply reminding him know that, even when no one knew he was a prince by blood, he was still someone who deserved at least some respect.

"Good luck, soldier." Steve said before hugging _and _saluting him. Bruce blushed a little as he returned the salute. Tony, however simply said

"Bye." Without even looking at him. Bruce was sad before Fury came over and said

"He's mad that one of the few people that can mentally keep up with him, is leaving without even throwing the smallest of tantrums, like he would be doing, except on a more global scale. Good luck, doctor." Bruce nodded at Fury, giving a small wave to Maria who had come with Fury out of decency towards the small elf, and who had had the decency to not always act like he was going to explode if someone nudged him in the hall.

"OK Thor; I'm ready." Bruce said as he shouldered his only bag, letting Thor gently pull him towards himself.

"Now, when we land, you may feel a little disoriented, don't worry about it, it happens to everyone on their first trip." Thor told him and Bruce just nodded, taking one last look at his friends and colleagues. It made him a little sad that his last image of his science bro was him looking at anything but him. He was then swept up in light and wind before he felt himself being pulled through a tube. When he landed, the first thing he saw was Loki in his armour along with his helmet (remember, Loki is trying to make a good impression on Bruce), then a tall, regal looking gentleman. He saw that Loki had shorter hair than the last time he saw him, but he couldn't help his attention being drawn toward the one who was obviously his grandfather. His hair was not white like snow; more silver, like starlight, and his eyes appeared to be a pair of emeralds that shone in the early morning light.

"So, you are my grandson, huh? You're in luck boy; there appears to be very little of your father in you. The only thing you got from him are his brown eyes; everyone in this family has had emerald eyes." Slade said as Bruce came nearer, bowing his head.

"Look at me boy; a prince bows his head to no one for longer than five seconds. And don't worry about the eyes, after tonight, when I recognize you as a prince of Agar, your eyes will be just like your mothers. You know, the color may not be right, but when I look at you, I can see your mothers spirit shining brightly in you." Slade said and a small part of Bruce felt pride at that.

"Well now, from my understanding, you have not met either of your husbands to be in the proper way." Slade then turned to Thor and said,

"Thor, son of Odin, allow me to introduce my grandson, Bruce, son of Redina. Loki, son of Laufey, adopted by Odin, your betrothed, my grandson, Bruce." Both Asgardians bowed and Bruce bowed back.

"Bruce, son of Redina, princess of Agar, meet Thor, son of Odin, and Loki, son of Laufey, your betrothed." Bruce again bowed and said

"Welcome to Agar son of Odin, welcome my husband." Before Thor could respond, Loki did something of a bold move; he gently gripped Bruce's hand and brought it to his lips, he then replied

"Welcome home."

"Good, now that we have all that settled, let me show you all around; I don't have any meetings till later this afternoon, so if we don't dilly-dally, we should be able to get the better part of the castle done before I have to leave." Slade told them as he turned and went back into the palace. Bruce took a moment to admire the outside before going in. The palace was white stone that seemed to reflect the morning sun. As he looked to the sky, he found it to be a rather interesting shade of amethyst. Huh, so the sky on his new home planet was purple; at least it wasn't red or pink, that could take quite a while to get used to but this was nice, calming.

"Bruce? We better get going before your grandfather leaves us behind." Loki said, and Bruce was a little surprised to see that both he and Thor had waited for him.

"Right, sorry, I just wanted to see what color the sky was." As soon as Bruce said that, he felt like he just said a childish thing, especially when Thor asked

"Why does that matter?"

"Considering that our world's sky is more a royal blue than their light blue, one would think it obvious. I think you'll find Bruce, that as the day goes on, the sky turns a rather charming shade of orchid, then as twilight appears, it's somewhat a mix of indigo and violet, finally ending in a truly beautiful shade of violet-blue." Loki had spoken somewhat harshly to Thor, but he had spoken gently and even genially to Bruce as the walked to catch up with Slade.

"Enjoy the sky?" Slade asked as they reappeared.

"Sorry, grandfather, I didn't mean to-" Bruce started, only to be silenced by Slade

"It's alright Bruce; Redina often liked to spend almost five minutes a day looking into the morning sky. Besides which, my moment alone reminded me of something; when I name you as a prince of Agar tonight, you should know the name is only temporary; you'll get another when you're married, as will your husbands." Slade said just before he started the tour. He started with the libraries; Redina had always loved to spend her days in there after she was done her princess duties, and it would appear that her son was the same way. Then, there was the room where the official meetings were held, the ballroom, the dining room, the room that housed their aquariums, the doors that lead to their gardens, the grounds that were beyond beautiful, the stables that had animals remarkably similar to horses, except they had antlers like elk and caribou.

They were then shown their bedrooms; Thor's room fit his personality perfectly, tasteful red and gold everywhere, books on battle strategies from all the planets, different fighting techniques and other books. The bed was a four poster with satin sheets. Loki's room was, as usual, an almost exact opposite of Thor's; there was green, gold, black and bits of silver all over the place, again, all very tasteful and, in Bruce's opinion, very beautiful, and much more calming than Thor's loud room. There were also book's on strategies here, but there were many spell books as well, as well as other magical artifacts. Bruce's room was beautiful, calming, and quite charming, not to mention helpful; the color scheme was blues, silver, and purples, the books were all spell books, books on politics, history books on Agar, Asgard, and Jotunheim, along with some light reading.

"It's beautiful grandfather, but I'm a little surprised that there is no green here; it was my understanding that rooms often reflect the ability of the child." Bruce said as he looked around.

"Yes, but given your imperfect control, as well as what I've heard of the army down on Earth, and I figured you may not want to sleep with the color green around you until you're more comfortable here. Now, sadly, I have a meeting I must attend to, so I will leave you with your betrothed, and your future husband." Slade said, and all three males were confused at the choice of words but nodded and accepted them. The three talked, or rather, Bruce talked to Loki, and Thor talked to Bruce, and Bruce noticed that Loki was doing everything in his power not to acknowledge Thor in the least. Later that night, at a semi-ball, Slade acknowledged that the son of his beloved daughter, the people's precious princess, was home, a prince of their noble blood, would assume the throne when the time came, and he would even honor the dreaded marriage contract. He then named him

"Dolion Mírion." Loki told him that the name meant 'Dark Jewel'. Part of Bruce thought that it fit quite well; the other part wondered if he'd ever get used to being called 'Your Highness', instead of being called 'freak'. It was a toss up which made him more uncomfortable.


End file.
